The Physics of Everyday Things

The Physics of Everyday Things is a brilliant book that made me feel, shall we say, less than brilliant. It is also a book I wish that I had had the opportunity to read at a much younger age. If you want to get kids interested in science and technology, this book (and Kakalios' other book, The Physics of Superheroes) is how to get started!

The framing of the book is magnificently done: we follow a normal, average businessman through his typical day, from waking up to going to bed, exploring the technology he uses and encounters along the way. This includes everything from the toaster that makes his breakfast to the GPS that helps him navigate traffic to the touchscreen of an ATM and the high-tech equipment he benefits from at a doctor's appointment, on an airplane flight, and in a business presentation. There's discussion of everything from simple electrical circuits and basic conduction to the binary language of computers, radio waves, and the mechanical back-up fail-safes that keep our elevators secure.

It was eye-opening to be reminded of just how much technology – both what we consider 'high-tech' and older-school but equally complex alternatives – goes into the modern life we so easily take for granted. Interesting as the book was, however, parts of it were hard for me to get through which I attribute to two factors. First, to be blunt, the science classes of my youth were clearly lacking. I have vague memories of talking about electrical circuits, magnetism, etc. round about fourth grade and occasionally in high school, but I decidedly did not retain enough to go into this book with anything qualifying as background. So I was fully reliant on the explanations in the book to keep up. Which would have been fine, except for factor number two: I am a visual learner. Although Kakalios provides very well done explanations, there are few diagrams, sketches or illustrations in the book and they are all exceptionally minimalistic. That's probably fine if you're keeping up, but I consistently found myself tempted to put the book down, hop online, and find a better one to catch me up before I kept going so that I could stay with the program. Now, if you're reading this with a young person, that's probably a point to the book's favor. If you're just reading it for your own edification, not so much.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary, and the book is decidedly worth giving a shot!